Letter to editor of the Quincy Patriot

In 1837, Adams began to send reports on Congressional affairs to a local newspaper, the Quincy Patriot. In this letter dated September 21, 1838, he refers to a duel in which a pro-slavery Kentucky member of Congress, William Graves, killed a Maine Representative, Jonathan Cilley. After the incident took place, Adams persuaded Congress to pass a law outlawing dueling in the District of Columbia. The letter also discusses petitions made concerning the right to petition and its suppression through the "gag rule," abolishing slavery in the District of Columbia and the slave trade in the U.S., Adams' opposition to the admission of Texas, a condemnation of the "fraudulent" Treaty of New Echota which removed the Cherokee Indians. Original letter has liquid stains on each page.